M6600 Owners Thread

Hmm. I don't use hibernate, as the bootup time has little or no noticeable speed improvements balanced with the benefits of a clean boot.

Most probably its a Dell software/firmware bug.

** Nvidia just release 296.10 13 March 2012.

 

First off, I share your love for the M90. Our Sanford Mall weather camera streams HD video 24 hours a day and the M90 does the encoding. See for yourself - ASU Weather Cams | Sanford Mall Cam

Second, you really need to upgrade your machine! I would not run anything earlier than the M6300 because of video card compatibility issues. The M90 is not ideal for Windows 7. It will run Windows 7, but the video hardware will limit some features because it can't do DirectX 10.

The M6600 will be a huge upgrade. The Quadro 3000M is roughly the same speed as the 3800M that was the top of the line card for the M6500. The AMD is faster in games, but the Quadro 3000M should be as fast or faster when rendering. The 3000M is the slowest of the cards offered in the M6600, but relatively speaking it is much faster than anything you will get in most consumer models. Go to http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-Quadro-3000M.47313.0.html and check the speed rankings - MANY other cards that used to be considered fast are listed lower than the 3000M.

The only reason I would cancel the order is if you have a Dual Core processor on the way. Get at least the 2720QM or 2760QM. You will get much more speed and be able to use all 4 RAM slots. There is no power penalty or clock speed penalty to quad cores any more. There is no reason to get the Dual Core.

If you do have a dual core, you can always upgrade to a Quad. Once a Quad is in the machine all 4 RAM slots will also work.

 

Has anyone had problems with plugging in your M6600s on airplanes?

I am sitting on a Delta 757 right now, and I tried to plug in my power brick that came with the system.

It has a P/N of J938H.

I wasn't able to get it to supply any power to my PC, but I was fortunate enough to have a 2nd battery.


Has anyone encountered this issue with their M6600s, on Delta or any other carrier?

Also, can anyone confirm the power draw for the OEM PSU?
From the writing on the back and the chat with the Dell tech, it looks like this thing pulls 210W/3.5A @~110v.

 

It does not pull that much power all the time. The max I have ever seen it pull is around 190 watts. With Optimus, a power saving mode, and a charged battery it will pull around 30 watts. I think that if the battery is charging, it is pulling around 90 watts.

According to Delta, they currently are converting their 75 watt outlets to 150. So the issue is that to rapid charge your battery, it is wanting over 75 watts.

 

This varies from airline to airline. On one recent long-haul flight with two sectors I was able to use my XPS1645 (130 watt adapter) on one leg but not on the other as one aircraft allowed more power per seat, while the other limited the power to 90watts or something. Same airline just different aircraft.

I have not yet tried the M6600 on a flight but thankfully the battery lasts quite a while. Lucky you have a second battery handy. Have a good flight!

 

Regardless of the power draw of the laptop, the power adapter will always draw the stated 210-240w from the AC source. I suspect the aircraft will not handle it. I believe the limit is set @ 130w per seat.

Scott-

 

And what it is supposed to do with this power?! Heat itself?!
EDIT: I just checked with my meter - power adapter takes 0,3W when not powering (my other) laptop and 25W otherwise.

 

Some aircraft are 90w some 130w. It is actually up to the airline to decide how much power they give and not the manufacturer like Boeing or Airbus. But, some airlines are retrofitting their aircraft, and some aircraft are newer than others, which is why you can get differences even in the same airline.

I still find it amazing that when I am on a new, or retrofitted, aircraft today, I can plug in the laptop and charge my mobile or whatever via the USB socket in the seat.

Problem with the M6600 is you can only really use it in Business or First Class because of its sheer size. Having said that, I would not trade it for any other current laptop!

 

These Dell switching power supplies, like any power supply, draw the full stated AC power regardless of being connected to a device or not. Just because the 210-240w are being sucked up does not mean the MOSFET circuit is outputting enough current to heat up the supply side when no load is present. When the supply is experiencing a moderate load on the output circuit, that is what generates the heat dissipation since it is this higher current at a lower voltage that is less efficient than the lower current at the higher voltage feeding the supply.

Scott

 

This makes no sense. Unless this is some wording trick, the switching power supply ideally shouldn't draw any AC power when it's not connected or under load (but it does draw some power, exact amount depending on the quality of the components used). When it's under load, it should draw the wattage somewhat higher then the load, depending on its efficiency.